A Lesson Learnt
by Loopstagirl
Summary: Uther is determined that Arthur will learn his place. Merlin doesn't approve, and decides to step in. One-shot.


**Disclaimer: I still own nothing!**

**This kind of came out of nowhere. Have been rewatching the beginning of series 1 again, and has anyone else noticed how many references are made to Uther locking Arthur up in some way or another in the first few episodes? So it got me thinking.**

**This is set directly after The Poisoned Chalice.**

**Enjoy!**

Arthur was amazed his father let him out of the dungeons for long enough to not only see Bayard off, but to visit Merlin as well. Nothing gave him more relief than seeing his servant sitting there, pale with big bags under his eyes, an old blanket draped around his shoulders. Not that Arthur managed to quite put into words how it made him feel, but still, he did manage to convey his thanks to the man. His nod at Gaius on the way out, however, spoke volumes. The guards were waiting outside, and without protesting, Arthur allowed himself to be led back to the dungeons and locked in his cell.

Any other occasion, he would have protested strongly, especially considering his father had just admitted to being proud of him. But still, Arthur knew the King better than that. It doesn't matter the consequences or reasoning behind Arthur's actions, nor how the King felt about them in retrospect. People had known that he had disobeyed the man, and so Uther wanted to see the heir being punished, a sign that no one was above the word of the King. Still, it was only for a week, the prince had dealt with worse.

He thought it would be fine, he truly did. Until that night. He had just managed to make himself comfortable, his jacket screwed up under his head – Merlin was not going to be pleased with that when he returned to work – and a scratchy blanket covering him. He knew full well that despite the message being sent out, he wasn't being subjected to the same treatment as a normal prisoner would expect. Sleep was tugging at him, and more bored than anything, Arthur gave into it.

Only to be jerked awake an hour later, his breaths coming in short and frantic gasps as he sat up shakily. Merlin had survived, hadn't he? For in his dream, Arthur had seen the boy twisting in agony, his life slowly leaving him as he suffered in the knowledge that his master, his friend, had failed in him. Blowing out a breath as he leant back against the damp walls, Arthur ran a hand shakily through his hair, pushing it away from his sweaty forehead.

After a few moments of contemplation, he stood up, walking on slightly shaking legs over to the cell door. His hands gripped around the bars as he peered out into the dimly lit corridor.

"Hello?" His call echoed mysteriously around, and whilst there was a slight shifting from somewhere, Arthur rolled his eyes when nothing responded. Clearly his father had told them to ignore him. Pressing his forehead against the bars, he closed his eyes, partly because he was listening and partly through being exhausted. It had been a strange couple of days. No sooner had he done so, images of Merlin once again filled his mind, and Arthur jerked them open with a groan. Still no one answered his call.

Not that that was going to stop Arthur, however. The remains of his evening meal were still resting in the cell, along with the cutlery he had been provided with. It took the skilled prince no more than about five minutes to be able to pick the lock. He really should talk to his father about their security. Then again, most prisoners weren't normally left with a knife in their cell. Even so, Arthur couldn't help but feel slightly offended by the fact he managed to slip out of the dungeons with ease. He knew he was better than the guards; he was the one who had trained the majority of them. But that aside, that was _too_ easy. Something definitely needed to be done.

His footsteps were silent as Arthur sprinted down the corridor to Gaius' chambers, but he certainly made up for it by the way he crashed through the door. The old man jumped, spinning sharply from where he had been pouring over an old document, his brow immediately crumpling when he saw Arthur standing there, flushed and breathlessly, his eyes scanning the chambers in concern.

"Sire? Arthur, what's wrong?" Gaius knew better than anyone the memories the dungeons held for Arthur.

"Where is he?" Arthur demanded frantically. Gaius followed Arthur's gaze towards the now empty bed, and couldn't stop the smile from crossing his face.

"He's sleeping in his own room." He told the prince quietly, standing up as Arthur took a few steps across the room. "Let him rest, Sire."

"But..." Arthur bit his lip as he stared at Merlin's shut door. He had to know for sure his servant was going to be alright, that he hadn't let the boy down the way he had let so many others down.

"Arthur, he is fine." Gaius responded firmly, placing a caring hand on the prince's shoulder and guiding him to a nearby stool. He wasn't even going to ask what had the blond so worked up, for he knew. The situation with Merlin had just made things even worse, but Gaius knew what had created the slightly haunted look in the young man's eyes.

He still hadn't forgiven the King for locking his terrified eight year old son in the dungeons after the boy had tried to save a young bird with a broken wing, going against his father in the process. If that hadn't been bad enough, Uther had decided to drive the lesson home by personally fastening a length of chain around the child's waist. Arthur had been too small for the usual manacles, but Uther still wanted to make the point. Gaius had to subscribe sleeping draughts for a month before Arthur's nightmares had passed.

Even now, Gaius knew the dungeons still brought out the vulnerable side of Arthur, more so when chains were used. Normally, it was because he had thought for himself rather than just accepting his father's word. Whilst most parents would have been proud of a child for that, Arthur just found it had got him punished every time he tried it.

"Gaius, I..." Arthur wanted to apologise, feeling like he should have done more to protect Merlin from being forced to drink the poison, but before he could do so, the door once again burst open. Guards spilled into the room, two of them grabbing Arthur by his upper arms and dragging him up off the stool before the pair noticed their presence.

"How dare you." The quiet voice of the King echoed through the chamber as he stared in disappointment at his son, hanging quietly in the grip of the guards. "I sentence you to a week, and you decide that's too long."

"Please, Sire..."

"Quiet, physician, or you will be joining him." Arthur wasn't sure if he was the only one who heard Merlin's door open, but suddenly, the youth was stumbling down the stairs, eyes wide and confused.

"Gaius? Arthur? What's going on? Why are you..?"

"Go back to bed, Merlin." Gaius interrupted firmly, placing a gnarled hand on Merlin's shoulder and giving him a small push back towards his room. The servant didn't need to know about this. With any luck, he wouldn't even remember it had happened by the morning. Gaius knew how much this hurt Arthur, and he didn't think it fitting that Merlin should witness the confrontation between father and son. He didn't notice that Merlin didn't shut his door properly, instead listening hard.

"You will be restrained this time, I will not have you flaunting the fact you can escape."

"That's not what I did!" Arthur argued heatedly, struggling slightly against the grip of his guards.

"Silence! You will be returned to your cell and restrained. You will spend tomorrow in the stocks for your behaviour."

"My Lord!" Gaius exclaimed. "He is the Prince, surely that is not fitting..."

"Neither is his behaviour. Arthur, you will learn your place, no matter how long it takes or what I have to do to teach you."

"Father, you can't do this!" Arthur was struggling more violently now, and the guards looked mildly concerned they would not be able to hold the prince. Luckily, in his exhausted state, Arthur could not offer the same fight as normal. Even so, a couple more walked up behind them, helping them secure the man.

"I can and I will, Arthur." Uther's voice was cold, and involuntarily, Gaius found himself glancing towards Merlin's room, only to be met by a pair of disbelieving eyes blinking through the gap. Gaius sighed heavily as he turned back to the royals. Merlin had never known there was a reason why Arthur could behave as such a – in the servant's words – prat. Uther gave him very little choice.

"You hypocrite..."

"You will show me respect!" Uther thundered. Gaius flinched, but Arthur met his father's gaze head on. Uther jerked his head towards the guards and one of them took hold of the back of Arthur's neck, forcing him to lower his head in submission. Gaius glanced towards Merlin's door again, shaking his head in warning at the fury springing to life in his ward's eyes. Merlin couldn't get involved, not without making things a lot worse for everyone involved.

Arthur's head may have been lowered, but all of his frustration over not being able being able to do more for Merlin was pulsing through him. Not to mention he was annoyed at Uther constantly telling him that what he was doing was wrong. So whilst his neck was craned forward, Arthur let his eyes flick up, meeting his father's gaze head on once more.

"Take him away!" Uther yelled, and the guards dragged the prince out of the room, not relinquishing their hold even as Arthur began to struggle again. Uther didn't even glance at Gaius before striding out after them.

"How could he?" The door had barely shut behind the King before Merlin had all but thrown himself down the stairs. The poison had made him weak though, and Gaius managed to move just in time to steady his ward by the elbow as the naturally clumsy boy almost fell.

"Sit down, Merlin."

"But he...after everything Arthur does for him, he can't just..!"

"Merlin!" Gaius' raised voice finally got through to the pacing boy, and realising that his legs were shaking slightly, Merlin gave in and sat down. That didn't mean he was prepared to give up on his rant though, but Gaius cut in first.

"Merlin, you have to understand, Arthur has always been raised as the future King, certain things are expected of him, and certain things are simply not allowed."

"But throwing him in the dungeons? Come on, Gaius, even you have to admit that's a bit extreme!"

"You don't know the half of it," Gaius muttered, standing up and moving across his chambers to light a few more candles now it was apparent Merlin had no desire to go back to bed.

"What do you mean?" Merlin's voice was soft and hesitant, and for a moment, Gaius was going to deny everything. Merlin may have been Arthur's servant, and they may be well on their way to becoming friends, but there were some things that Gaius had no right revealing. His arguments died when he caught sight of his ward's face. Merlin wanted to be able to help.

"You think this is the first time Uther has confined his son to the dungeons?" Merlin smirked slightly. Whilst he was still fuming at the way Uther had treated Arthur, Merlin himself had been in those dungeons already. It wasn't _that _bad, Uther could have done a lot worse.

"It must be so hard. I mean, used to doing whatever the hell he wants, whenever he wants, to suddenly find himself behind a locked door."

"How about for an eleven year old?" Merlin's smirk disappeared as quickly as it had come, his face falling.

"What happened?" He asked quietly. There was something in him that was desperate to know. They may not have been wanting to kill each other in the way they had when they first met, but Merlin knew there were still worlds between him and the prince. He wanted to be able to understand Arthur, get to know the man rather than the royal.

"Arthur wanted to go out on patrol. Some of the younger Knights let him, taking him for a walk around the castle and pretending that was their normal route. Uther was furious."

"But why? Surely nothing happened?" Merlin was leaning forward slightly, a frown etched into his pale face as he stared at the physician.

"The King saw it as Arthur deliberately trying to put himself in harm's way. He confined Arthur to the dungeons, using manacles for the first time to show that Arthur did nothing without the King's express permission first."

Gaius' voice was soft and low, and Merlin could see the hurt in his guardian's eyes. He himself felt that familiar stab of anger. How could Uther do that to his own son?

"That wasn't all though." Suddenly, Merlin wasn't so sure he wanted to know. "He had forgotten there was a sorcerer in the cell next to the prince, one arrested for trying to murder Uther the day before. He spent the night tormenting Arthur with how he wasn't going to live to become king, that people were going to destroy his father and his kingdom first."

Merlin felt sick, and he wasn't sure it was to do with his earlier brush of death. Gaius' expression was far away, pain clouding his features as he remembered the scene he was summoned to the next morning.

"Arthur's wrists were raw by the time morning came from where he had tried to pull himself free."

He wasn't going to tell Merlin about how the prince had walked out of there with his head held high and the sorcerer's threats ringing in his ears. He had made it all the way up the steps when his foot caught on something and he had stumbled. As the physician had bent down to help the young prince up, Arthur had all but thrown himself at Gaius, sobbing uncontrollably.

Gaius had picked him up in a way he hadn't managed for a few years, intending to take Arthur to his rooms to deal with the child there when Uther had appeared. Arthur hadn't even noticed his father had witnessed him at his most vulnerable, but Gaius had seen the look of disappointment in his face at thinking Arthur couldn't deal with being confined. Gaius had certainly made sure the King knew who else had been in the cells that night with the child, and it was a battered and bruised sorcerer who was led to the pyre the next morning, the King making him pay for threatening his son.

But he never told Arthur that, never apologised for being the one to put the prince through it in the first place.

Merlin sat in stunned silence after Gaius had finished. He had noticed a small scar on Arthur's left wrist whilst helping the prince dress one morning, and just assumed it was from his training. Could it be that was a lasting reminder of how the King wanted him to behave? Merlin never thought he would feel sorry for the arrogant prat, but hearing that tale – even though he knew there was more to it than Gaius was letting on – made the pity stir within him.

"He can't know you know, Merlin." Gaius had correctly interpreted the warlock's expression. "He'll tell you himself when he is ready, but say nothing."

"But Gaius..."

"Say nothing. Let him handle this with his head held high as always. Don't make it worse for him."

Merlin nodded his understanding, even though he didn't like it. Inside his mind however, his thoughts were racing. He may not be able to say anything to Arthur as such, but he could make sure the people knew precisely what their prince was being punished for. Gaius didn't notice the small smile on his ward's face as Merlin finally gave into his body's need for rest and slowly returned to bed, ideas bouncing around his head. Arthur had saved his life, the least Merlin could do was to make sure the prince knew how much he appreciated it.

* * *

><p>Dawn came all too soon for Arthur's liking. He hadn't managed to get any more sleep; restlessness had plagued him all night. The prince could deal with a missed night, patrols and hunts had toughened him to that. But his wrists felt heavy and sore from the manacles and his mind was in turmoil. How could his father restrain him like a common criminal just because his son had tried to see if his servant was still alive? Arthur knew that was where the problem lay. Uther couldn't understand why Arthur would want to make sure his servant was alright, he certainly wouldn't be able to get his mind around the fact that Arthur was trying to make sure his <em>friend<em> was okay.

A clanging sound drew Arthur's attention, and he pulled himself to his feet as the guards unlocked the door. Two moved forward to release Arthur from the chains, but he rolled his eyes irritably.

"I'm not going to run." He told them, annoyance lacing his tone. They exchanged glances, before one of them backed off again as the other unlocked the cuffs.

"Sorry, Sire," he muttered, before clamping the manacles Arthur knew he would be in all day around the prince's wrists. Arthur didn't say anything – they were only following orders, after all – but allowed them to guide him out of the cells.

He blinked in the sunlight flowing through the lower town, seeming to light up the whole place. In an ironic way, he knew the castle never received the golden bath the town got. There was something warming about it, something that seemed to seep into his very soul. His father was wrong, these people were just as important to the Kingdom as those with noble blood were.

There was an unusual hush across the market as Arthur was led through and placed in the stocks. Even as the locks were secured, he glanced up at the castle walls. Sure enough, his father was standing there, clearly intending to make sure his orders were carried out. The army was technically under Arthur's control now he was old enough; the guards would have been conflicted of whose orders to follow should Arthur have protested. But the prince knew it would have got him nowhere, so instead just allowed things to happen.

He saw his father beckon someone forward, and Arthur rolled his eyes when one of his "friends" appeared. He knew what was coming. The King would be fully aware the townspeople would not carry out their usual behaviour towards someone in the stocks when it was their prince imprisoned within. Instead, the man was just sending someone he knew wouldn't turn down the chance to belittle Arthur.

He didn't have to wait long until a small group of young nobles appeared, one of their servants carrying a basket and setting it down at their feet.

"King's orders, Sire." One muttered, but Arthur couldn't help but notice the _lack_ of apology in his voice. Arthur had refused to grant them Knighthood without going through the usual tests first, meaning they had wasted years of trying to befriend the man. Now they had just been handed the chance to take out their frustrations. No doubt Uther would be fully aware of the relationship between his son and these men. He wanted the people to see Arthur being punished.

Arthur merely shifted irritably as the food began to fly. He knew there was a reason why he had refused to give them status without the training first. None of them even came close to hitting him. If it was anyone else, he would have said they weren't trying, scared of his reaction. But he knew these men, and knew it was because they were simply missing.

It was close on an hour when they finally ran out of missiles to throw, but Arthur knew they had no plans to stop.

"You, boy, go and fetch..."

"Enough." Another voice cut through the order, and Arthur's head jerked up so fast the back of his neck hit the wood of the stocks and he winced slightly. Leon was standing directly in front of him, shielding him from anything else that might have been thrown his way.

"But the King..."

"You have carried out the King's orders, now be gone before I have you removed." Arthur had to smile at the authority in Leon's voice. The older knight was Arthur's right hand man for a reason. He followed orders without batting an eyelid, but when the time came, he could give them just as easily. The knight stepped forward as the nobles began scuffing their way sullenly from the town, clearly intending to follow them back to the castle and make sure they didn't return, but he did pause long enough to shoot Arthur an encouraging smile.

Arthur shifted again, his back already beginning to ache as the man disappeared.

"I knew getting him would be a good idea," a cheerful voice sounded over to one side, and Arthur awkwardly turned his neck.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" He all but snapped, back of his neck burning at Merlin seeing him like this. He expected the man to come out with some insult about missing the opportunity to see Arthur humiliated, but instead, Merlin moved forward.

One hand gave Arthur's shoulder a squeeze before he dropped it again. Carefully, he lifted the prince's chin a little before pressing a cup to his lips. Merlin's face was frowning in concentration as he helped Arthur drink. Once he had had enough, Arthur pulled away slightly and Merlin took the hint, lowering the cup again.

"Thanks. I um..." He didn't know what to say. The market had gone silent again, and as Merlin moved, Arthur saw his father had returned, most likely having seen Leon escorting the others back.

"Merlin, you should go, my father..."

"Has done enough." Merlin responded quietly, an anger shimmering under the surface that made the prince realise his servant was more aware of what was going on than those around them. He should have known, Gaius would have said something.

"_Mer_lin..."

"Thank you, Sire." Merlin's voice was so uncharacteristically loud that Arthur blinked in surprise, stunned into silence. "Thank you for saving my life, even if it has cost you."

The whole market seemed to suck in a sharp breath, and Arthur could feel the sparks flying from his father even from this distance.

"What are you doing?" He hissed at his servant.

"Wait and see," Merlin responded, sounding so annoyingly confident that Arthur found himself shifting again, his hand reaching out to try and drag the boy towards him. Merlin simply stepped out of his reach, and as he did so, a young girl came forward. She had a small piece of bread in her hand, and before Arthur knew what was happening, he was being fed.

Merlin stepped back as he watched. One woman bathed Arthur's face; another constructed a sort of shelter over the stocks to keep the worst of the sun away. Not a single person dreamed of throwing something. This was the prince who had risked his life to save his servant, and was being punished for it. The people of Camelot were certainly making sure their future leader knew what they thought of his sacrifice.

Watching with a smile, Merlin glanced up at the castle walls. He could tell that Uther's glare was on him, and he simply grinned at the monarch before turning back to his son. There was nothing Uther could do. He couldn't punish Arthur further; he couldn't even take it out on the servant, not without the people rallying to Arthur even more. Merlin had trapped him in his own game. Instead, he just had to let Arthur do his time whilst earning the respect of the people in a way his father had never truly experienced.

As Uther turned on his heel and strode away, cloak billowing impressively out behind him, Merlin caught Arthur's eye and smiled. Arthur had certainly learnt a lesson that was for sure. Only, not the one his father had chosen on.

Instead, he had discovered the people of Camelot were behind him, supporting him no matter what.

**Please review?**


End file.
